This invention relates to a product dispensing and drainback fitting which is designed to be incorporated into the neck of a container for storing and pouring liquid.
Many liquid containers have a pour spout incorporated into the neck of the container for dispensing a liquid product. Many of these containers also have a cap or closing device which also serves as a measuring cup. When the cap is used to close the container after being used to measure liquid, it is desirable to provide means for the liquid to drain from the interior of the cap into the container. It is also desirable to provide means for returning any liquid which flows onto the outside of the pour spout to the container. Various devices for incorporating liquid drainback features into the pour spouts of liquid containers have been considered. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,637 to Marcel and U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,009 to Davidson et al. both teach product dispensing and drainback fittings. In these patents, an inner pouring spout is surrounded by a circumscribing well which connects to the neck of the container. Commonly, these patents show pour spouts with a slot running from the pouring end to the base of the spout. The open slots taught by these patents serve to allow air to enter the container as liquid is poured from the container, which in turn allows the fluid to be poured with a faster, relatively even flow. Pour spouts with open slots as taught by these patents are in common use.
Until recently, the equipment used to fill containers with liquid has lacked some precision. As a result, manufacturers tended to set the container fill level on the low side in order to avoid overfilling the container. When the fill level of a container was kept on the low side, the open slots running from the pouring end to the base of the spout commonly used in the industry presented few problems. However, new improvements in the equipment used to fill containers with liquid have resulted in the ability to fill containers to a more exact predetermined level. Consequently, containers now have a consistently higher fill level. Although the higher fill level is beneficial to consumers, it has created some problems with using the prior art pour spouts with the circumscribing wells. When a user tips a container with a high fill level to pour liquid from the container, the liquid fills the entire area of the pour spout. When the pour spout is provided with a slot running substantially the entire length of the spout, some of the liquid being poured has a tendency to flow from the slot and into the well surrounding the spout. Due to the tilt of the container, once the liquid is in the well, it can drip out of the container. Liquid may also flow into the well from the drainback hole commonly located in base of the well in spouts of this type. As a result, a mess is created and product is wasted. This condition is called xe2x80x9cdouble pourxe2x80x9d.
Various changes in the pour spout have been considered in an effort to avoid the double pour problem. One possible change is to widen the pour spout so that it can accommodate a greater volume of liquid. Unfortunately, if the pour spout is widened, the user""s ability to control the direction of liquid flow is decreased. This is especially serious when the user wishes to measure the liquid because the user has difficulty directing the flow of liquid into the measuring cup. A wider pour spout also causes problems when using the pour spout as a spot stain treater to dispense a controlled amount of liquid to a particular area. The product dispensing and drainback fitting of the present invention solves the problem of double pouring while at the same time maintaining the ability to effectively aim the flow of liquid.
The product dispensing and drainback fitting of the present invention comprises a pour spout to facilitate directed pouring of the liquid, the spout being surrounded by a circumscribing well and having a shortened slot running from the pouring end of the spout towards the well with an appropriately sized drainback hole in the base of the well sized to prevent double pour.